Matching games not only exercise your child’s memory they teach color recognition, patience and taking turns. It’s birthday party season around here and this paper was bought for a friend’s party last week, and this week the extra gets turned into fun. I started out playing it with the cupcakes facing us simply looking for matches, it was way too easy so I flipped them over and we played the game properly, and my son beat me fair and square!

Gather your materials. You will need some patterned wrapping paper, some construction paper, scissors and a glue stick

Cut your construction paper into 12 or more squares.

Cut 2 of each picture out- we did 6 individual picture for 12 cards total.

Using the glue stick glue the wrapping paper down.

Let dry

Play- either face up searching for matches, with young toddlers.

Or traditionally face down taking turns .

Book!

“If You Give A Cat A Cupcake!” by Laura Numeroff is the newest installment of her ever popular “If You Give…” series. I like this one , I mean any book with a cat in a bathing suit is worth a look. I am a big fan of these stories not only because they have just the right amount of text for young preschoolers, but also because the illustrations by Felicia Bond are so detailed you can spend ages talking about what your child sees in the book after the words are read. I love the cause and effect , and after a few readings your child will have fun telling you what’s next.

My son’s birthday is this weekend, he will be 2, and I decided that I wanted to have something akin to the notches on the door frame to see how he has grown. Each year I will offer up a canvas and see what happens. My husband asked me” What if he doesn’t want to do it one year?” ” Well then we’ll frame a blank canvas, that will be memorable too!” My son had the time of his life doing this, he ended up in the bath after covering himself and my kitchen in many many colors. If you want to have some fun here is what we did:

Gather your materials. We grabbed all our paint, all non toxic , you can see why. Also a 8×10 canvas and a few brushes to choose from. Don’t forget the drop cloth, I don’t often get ours out, I am so happy I decided to today.

Start by asking your child what colors they want, just because you are letting them go “wild” doesn’t mean you can slide some color lessons in !

Switch up colors and brushes.

Or forget brushes all together!

Let dry and frame to make it a keep sake.

Books!

“On The Day You Were Born” by Debra Frasier is a beautiful book . It explains all the wonderful things the earth does every day but explains it through fresh eyes and makes it into a fantastic event. It goes on to introduce things like a sunrise, the phases of the moon and tides in a way that makes old cynical eyes see these as the magical things they are. I love that in this book the baby is born into a circle of familiar people who whisper into the baby’s ear ” We’re so glad you’ve come” it just rings true and gives me a big lump in my throat. Also I love how it doesn’t specify who the baby is being welcomed by, which is wonderful since families are so diverse , it fits everyone!

” Moira’s Birthday” by Robert Munsch is a silly book, most of his books are, but silly is great! Moira is excited about having her birthday and doesn’t know how to say no to all the kids at school when they beg to come to her party. She ends up with the whole school at her house and her parents don’t know what to do! Luckily Moira does. This book at first look may seem like Moira is a spoiled brat who gets her way but really she is problem solving and when she gives away a present to each child who helps clean up, you can see she just wanted a good party, and isn’t a gift grabbing brat at all! Kids LOVE this book, I have never read it to a class that didn’t laugh hysterically.

“If You Give A Pig A Party” by Laura Nummeroff , this is the only book in this series I don’t own. I read it to my son yesterday while shopping for party supplies at Costco. I love this whole series, I like the cause and effect text and how even younger children start anticipating that the Pig is going to want something else… I love that the Pig’s party guests are the other Nummeroff characters, like the Moose from “If You Give A Moose A Muffin” and the Cat from “If You Give A Cat A Cupcake” . Such a fun book !